Inferring and reporting well-being status from sensed utility usage

ABSTRACT

The present invention involves individualized, non-intrusive monitoring of a person to determine health, well-being and ability to live independently or with minimal and tailored assistance. One or more sensors collect data corresponding to usage of utilities in a person&#39;s residence. This sensor data is processed in near-real time to compare present usage patterns to past usage or other standards. Algorithms identify when usage data patterns indicate cause for concern or that attention or intervention is required. Additionally, mechanisms are provided that allow interested persons to check status or receive alerts concerning the monitored person&#39;s health and well-being status and when attention or intervention is advantageous.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.Patent Application Ser. No. 63/132,653, filed Dec. 31, 2020, thedisclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention pertains to sensing devices and processing of data fromsensing devices. More particularly, the invention pertains to inferringpresence and activities of humans from data corresponding to sensedusage of utilities.

Description of the Related Art

A challenge has been identified in supporting people who are at-risk butdesire to live independently. This includes a wide segment ofpopulation, for example people who are aging, recovering from medicalprocedures, are experiencing physical or cognitive challenges such asdementia or Alzheimer's disease, or are otherwise limited in movement,or are facing a higher risk of injury or are at risk for being unable tomaintain daily activity and live independently. It is often desirablethat these people live with as much autonomy as possible yet have readyand fast access to help when needed. Detecting the need for help is aparticular challenge.

A 2018 American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) National Surveyshowed that 76% of senior citizens want to stay in their currentresidence as they age. Data shows that 80% of Americans aged 65 live intheir own homes, yet by age 95 only 54% live independently.

In addition, often other interested people wish to monitor the health ofthese individuals, such as friends, family, loved ones, caregivers, ormedical professionals. It may not be possible or desirable for theseinterested people to be geographically nearby to the at-risk person, yetthey have a need to be able to check the status of the person and bealerted if assistance is required. Remote monitoring of health andwell-being is needed.

The need for technology to help elders age in place is an ever-growingopportunity. The future of longevity is a booming market. The elderlypopulation is growing rapidly and is projected to nearly double from 52million in 2018 to 90 million by 2050. AARP and Oxford Economics sizedthe United States Aging Economy at S7.6 trillion annually. Terms such as“Age Tech” and “Longevity economy” have been coined to describe thisinteresting area of human-centered technology.

However, existing technology solutions have drawbacks and limitationsthat prevent them from being an adequate, affordable, or completesolution to this challenge.

Although modern ubiquitous communication devices are available, a personmay be incapacitated or unconscious and unable to use a device torequest help. Conversely, a person not answering a phone call or messagemay not indicate a need for assistance—the person may simply be ignoringcalls or have the phone “off the hook” desiring silence or privacy.Thus, it may be difficult for an interested person to assess health andwell-being using conventional communication methods and devices.

Traditional remote monitoring schemes using cameras, microphones orsensors to share images or sounds from the home of the monitored personare ineffective for several reasons. First, they may be intrusive andinvasive to the privacy of the person. Also, such devices have limitedrange and are not able to monitor every part of a home, especially if itis larger or has many rooms.

In addition, these devices must be added to the residence, connected,maintained, and monitored. They are not part of daily activity, so maybe awkward, unsightly, and fall into neglect or malfunction. In somecases, a person being monitored may tamper with, disable, orintentionally avoid these devices.

The challenge of determining if a person is able to live independentlyand is maintaining healthful daily habits and functions has inspiredmuch research. This has yielded several measures and assessmenttechniques to determine health status of a person. One particularlyuseful set of criteria is the Activities of Daily Life (ADL) which are astandard to test independent living capacity of an individual. ADL isattributed to Sidney Katz and has spawned a wide variety of research andpublications since their introduction in 1983.

“The activities of daily living (ADLs) are both essential and routineaspects of self-care. The six essential ADLs includes the ability to beable to independently eat, dress, walk or transfer from one position toanother, bathe, and toilet, and maintaining bowel and bladdercontinence. Independent adults generally may manage activities of dailyliving so that they can successfully live without assistance fromoutside caregivers or significant others.” [From Edemekong PF, BomgaarsDL, Levy SB. Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). In: StatPearls.StatPearls Publishing, Treasure Island (FL); 2019.]

Although ADLs provide a standard set of activities and criteria by whicha person's ability to live independently may be determined, they havelimitations in that the standard they provide is generic and nottailored to the habits or past patterns of the person being monitored.

One approach to monitoring an at-risk person is to have a humancaregiver, friend, or family member live in the same residence or lookin on them periodically. Similarly, residential care facilities providea staff of proximate caregivers. This has several limitations in that itis not continuous and often not convenient and is often costly. Inaddition, an outside visitor may be seen as intrusive and disruptive tothe habits for the person being monitored, particularly if the visitoris not recognized or familiar to the person.

It is also desirable to have the ability to monitor the health andindependence of people in a manner that involves little or no contactwith other humans, due to risk of contagious diseases being transmitted.The risk is especially high if a person who visits is also visitingother people. Particularly in times of pandemic that mandate isolationor quarantine to reduce contact and potential contagion, visits byfamily members or caregivers may be very risky for the person beingmonitored. People facing challenges in living independently are alsooften at risk from contagious disease—such as the sick, elderly, orrecovering.

A new and unique combination of sensing utility usage, processing andstorage of usage data, pattern recognition and comparison, and statusreporting and alerting, has been discovered.

The following publications detail these challenges, and are incorporatedby reference herein in their entireties:

Katz, S. (1983). “Assessing self-maintenance: Activities of dailyliving, mobility, and instrumental activities of daily living.” Journalof the American Geriatrics Society, 31(12), 721-727.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1983.tb03391.x

Stephen Katz, “Busy Bodies: Activity, aging, and the management ofeveryday life.” Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 14, Issue 2, June 2000,Pages 135-152.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890406500800080#!

Daniel López Gómez, “Little arrangements that matter. Rethinkingautonomy-enabling innovations for later life” in TechnologicalForecasting and Social Change, Volume 93, April 2015, Pages 91-101https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040162514000791

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One or more sensors collect data corresponding to usage of utilities ina person's residence. This sensor data is processed in near-real time,comparing present usage patterns to observed past usage patterns or toother pre-determined standards. Algorithms identify when comparison ofusage data over time indicates cause for concern or that attention orintervention is required. Additionally, mechanisms are provided thatallow interested persons to check status or receive alerts concerningthe monitored person's health and well-being status. This provides oraugments individualized monitoring of health, well-being and ability tolive independently, or with minimal and tailored assistance.

The present invention, in one form, relates to inferring well-beingstatus and activities of a human from sensed usage of residentialutilities, in near real-time.

The present invention, in another form, is a method for creating areference pattern corresponding to a normal pattern of utility usage foran individual, by observation of the individual's patterns and habitsover time or by defining rules.

Further aspects of the present invention involve a novel approach todetection of flow of hot water utility in a residential plumbing networkpiping, without need to cut or modify the existing network, and bysensing temperature at an outer surface of a selected pipe.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a machine-readable programstorage device for storing encoded instructions for a method ofcomparing present pattern of utility usage to a reference to determinewell-being status, according to the foregoing method.

Another aspect of the invention is mechanisms for providing status andnotifications concerning the well-being of a person, including statusdisplays, alert mechanisms, and an application and associatedmachine-readable instructions suitable for a computing device.

Further aspects of the invention are illustrated in embodiments whereutility utilization involves the subject using hot water and monitoringthe hot water demand and usage to determine human activity, as withother embodiments using other utility measures. Embodiments of theinvention use an algorithm that uses high attack temp to determine thestart of event. Further processing uses a slope calculation to determineattack (i.e. positive rate of change) and decay (i.e. negative rate ofchange) as indicators to detect utility usage and usage events. Forexample, without limitation, the processing may use an attack of greaterthat a 5 degree rise in temperature over two points 120 seconds apart todetermine the “attack” or start of a usage event. Within the algorithm,detecting the slope passing back through zero rate, after a positiveattack event has been detected, is used to determine a “tentative” endevent. Once observing a tentative end event, the algorithm analyses bylooking at previous samples until the max temperature is found in arecent sample series, creating a probable “end event”. Thus, creating a“usage” event based on attack event and probable end event iscalculated. Then the duration of the event may be used to determine an“event”, and further using duration events, periods in a day may bemarked that make up a normal pattern of water usage.

Additional embodiments of the invention involve using a utilityinstallation in a residence in combination with a utility flow detectionmechanism, as a signal communication network, (further using thecommunication network to detect well-being status of a person). Whereina person creating a demand for said utility by appropriate controls(light switch, water faucet, toilet flush) creates a detectable signalthat is sensed at a remote place in the residential utilityinstallation. The utility being sensed may be an electric supply and theconductive flow of electricity provides signal communication,alternatively the utility being sensed is water supply and the fluidicflow of water provides signal communication. When the utility beingsensed is hot water supply, the fluidic flow of water at elevatedtemperature may provide signal communication. This allows using aparticular utility installation in a residence, in combination with asensing device, to create a new sensing device with extended range andnew capability that extends the range to all or a selected portion ofthe utility installation in the residence. For example, if the utilitybeing sensed is electric supply then the conductive flow of electricitymay provide signal communication to create a sensor with a range mappingto the selected portion of the residential electrical wiringinstallation, or if the utility being sensed is water supply then thefluidic flow of water may provide signal communication with a rangeextending to the selected portion of residential plumbing installation.Further, if the utility being sensed is hot water supply then thefluidic flow of water at elevated temperature may provide signalcommunication to extend sensor range.

Another embodiment of the present invention involves a system fordetermining health and well-being of a human person. At least one sensoris used for detecting usage of utilities. A timer device providesinterval measurement, rate measurement, and calendar time. A storagedevice is for storing sensor data and usage patterns. A processingdevice is in signal communication with sensors, storage, and timer, andis configured to compare in near real-time, sensed present utility usagepatterns over time to a reference pattern, and to alert when an anomalyis detected. Status reporting and alerting mechanisms to provideinformation to interested parties. The sensor may be for detecting flow(usage) of hot water, and may be located at exit of residential hotwater heating device. In the case of a apartment complex or assistedliving facility, the sensor may be located at point where a sharedutility network becomes non-shared. Water flow may be detected bysensing rate of change of temperature of hot water pipe (no plumbingmodification needed). The rate of change of 5 degrees F. over 120seconds may be taken as a threshold indicating initiation of usage.Usage events may be determined based on detecting patterns or featuresin the stored history of sensed data and correlating time of features.The start of an event or attack may be determined from positive rate ofchange of temperature and end of event from decay or negative rate ofchange of temperature (slope). The usage patterns may be based ondetecting one or more usage events, events comprising one or more of: adetection of time of positive rate of temperature change correspondingto initiation of flow of hot water; measuring a time duration;subsequent detection of time of a negative rate of temperature changecorresponding to ceasing flow of hot water; a detection of cessationtime based on negative rate of temperature change of a pipecorresponding to cessation of flow of hot water; searching stored dataimmediately prior in time to the cessation detection for positive rateof temperature change corresponding to start of usage; and determining ausage event based on the start time, cessation time, and time durationbetween events.

Further embodiments of the invention involve a method for detectinghuman activity. Installing, at a preferred location within a residentialutility delivery network, a sensor configured to detect flow of theutility through the network. Optionally installing additional flowsensors at other locations within said residential utility deliverynetwork or in other utility network within residence (i.e. anotherutility gas vs electric). Sensing flow of utility(ies). Noting time andduration of flow, and optionally volume of flow. Comparing flow timesand duration patterns to a reference pattern. Applying pattern matchinglogic to determine if present activity differs from a reference pattern.The flow patterns may be used to infer human activity of a person in theresidence and using the utility network(s). Additionally, the flowpatterns and comparisons may be used to infer health and well-beingstatus of person in residence. Where the utility is water, the elevatedtemperature may be used wherein the delivery network is the hot waterplumbing system in the residence. The reference pattern may be obtainedfrom storage of past sensed flow of utility through the utility network.The reference pattern may be based on rules defined and stored, andlogic may be used to determine difference from a reference pattern basedon past sensed flow, and additionally to determine if a person living inthe residence and using the utility in said network is in need ofattention or assistance. Further steps may involve maintaining in amemory, a well-bring status of person living in residence; providingstatus upon request to devices and applications; pushing alerts todevices and applications when the status meets configurable criteria fordesired notification.

Another embodiment of the invention involves a method for detecting flowof hot water in a pipe. A temperature sensor may be installed adjacentto pipe positioned and configured to measure the temperature of theouter surface of the pipe. The measured sensor may be sampled atintervals controlled by a timing device. The time rate of change of thetemperature of outer pipe surface may be calculated from samples andtimes. Flow may be inferred within pipe when time rate of change ofouter surface temperature over a predetermined interval, exceeds apredetermined threshold value, for example without limitation, anincrease of at least 5 degrees F. within 20 seconds. Cessation of flowwithin in the pipe may additionally be inferred when time rate of changeof outer surface temperature is less than zero and flow has beenpreviously detected.

Further embodiments of the invention provide a method for determiningusage of a utility based on detecting usage events. An event start timemay be found based on detecting a pattern in a stored series of flowmeasurements. An event end time may alternatively based on detecting apattern in a stored series of flow measurements that are obtained afterthe event start time. An event duration time may be calculated as theinterval between end time and start time, and the usage event may bestored in a reference memory including start time and duration.

Other embodiments of the invention involve a method of creating areference pattern of usage of a utility. The flow status of a utilitymay be detected at intervals during a 24 hour period, and may beprocessed to detect usage events. The usage events may be stored in adatabase configured to allow searching for events, using a searchcriteria of events that were started within any sub-interval of the 24hour period (i.e. event count between 5 am and noon).

Further embodiments of the invention involve a method of determininganomalous behavior by a person living in a residence, for examplewithout limitation recalling from a database/memory, the number (andoptionally duration) of utility flow events in a time intervalcorresponding to a continuous part of a day (e.g. morning) in thepresent day. Further recalling from database/memory, the number (andoptionally duration) of flow events in a time interval corresponding tothe same part of day in a reference pattern may be included. Bycomparing the number (and optionally the duration) of present-day flowevents with the number of reference-day flow events anomalous behaviormay be determined. When a difference is detected, one may further applythe method steps to a longer interval (e.g., extending further back intime, mid-day+morning).

Still another embodiment of the invention involves a method for creatinga reference day pattern of utility usage to be used in detecting thewell-being status of a person living in a residence. One may start bydetermining the type of reference day to be created (e.g. Tuesday,Weekday, Weekend), then recalling from memory, stored usage of utilityusage of a particular type of utility in the residence, on a pluralityof days corresponding to the type of reference day (e.g. past 4Tuesdays). By detecting, in recalled past usage data, usage thatoccurred in a majority of the plurality of recalled days well-beingstatus may or may not be inferred.

Another further embodiment of the invention involves a method ofcreating a reference pattern of usage of a utility, comprising enteringrules in structured and constrained human readable form. By defining aform of a rule structure with multiple fields which define theconsequents and antecedents of the rule, a reference pattern of usagemay be derived. For example, defining, for each field, a limited numberof possible values which may be selected for the field, optionallyproviding a tool to create or edit the rule by offering a user selectionof the possible values for each field, optionally providing aconsistency check to detect illogical or invalid combinations of valueselections, may be employed. An inference engine may then be designedand used to apply rules against observations of utility usage events.

Alternative embodiments of the invention involve a method of creating areference pattern of usage of a utility. The flow status of a utilitymay be automatically detected at a plurality of spaced intervals duringa 24 hour period and the flow status observations may be processed todetect usage events. Further, the usage event data from a plurality ofobservations may be processed to create one or more rules describing thepattern of usage, and optionally a mechanism for a human to read and/oredit the rules created may be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention,either alone or in combinations of two or more, and the manner ofattaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself willbe better understood by reference to the following description of anembodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of components arranged in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a depiction of high-level components and functions essentialto implementing embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are schematic depictions of prior art methods andsystems for signaling and remote sensing that will be helpful inillustrating particular features and advantages of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment according to the present invention where autility network is used for signaling or remote sensing.

FIG. 5 depicts a utility network system in which embodiments of thepresent invention may be utilized.

FIG. 6 schematically depicts another utility network system in whichembodiments of the present invention may be utilized.

FIG. 7 illustrates the correlation between human activity and usage ofutilities in a residence that forms the basis for embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 schematically depicts applying embodiments of the presentinvention to a multi-unit dwelling utility network with a shared hotwater heater.

FIG. 9 schematically depicts applying embodiments of the presentinvention to a utility network in a multi-unit dwelling where eachdwelling has a dedicated hot water heater.

FIG. 10 depicts a detailed embodiment of components and devices arrangedto implement an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a detailed depiction of another embodiment according todescriptions of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a pictorial description of a data structure and hierarchythat may be used in embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates flow of data, and process steps, and storage, inaccordance with embodiments implementing the present invention.

FIGS. 14 and 15 schematically depict sensor data and processing methodsto detect events in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are flow charts illustrating detection of an eventaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 depicts a schematic representation according to the presentinvention, for pattern matching to determine if a present usage patternmatches a reference usage pattern.

FIG. 18 depicts a schematic representation according to the presentinvention, for using enhanced awareness of the situation to determine ifpresent usage patterns are anomalous.

FIGS. 19A and 19B depict an embodiment implementing a rule-based schemeto define a reference pattern for comparing present usage data to adefined reference and defining consequent actions.

FIG. 20 schematically illustrates logic, inputs, and outputs that createa notification system in accord with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 21A, 21B, and 21C provide schematic depictions of data displaysemployed to show a user the well-being status in embodiments.

FIGS. 22A and 22B diagrammatically depict a state machine modelimplemented to track well-being and alert status in embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagrammatic view of a network system in whichembodiments of the present invention may be utilized.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a computing system (either a server orclient, or both, as appropriate), with optional input devices (e.g.,keyboard, mouse, touch screen, etc.) and output devices, hardware,network connections, input and output capable devices, one or moreprocessors, and memory/storage for data and modules, etc. which may beutilized in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views. Although the drawings representembodiments of the present invention, the drawings are not necessarilyto scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to betterillustrate and explain the full scope of the present invention. The flowcharts and screen shots are also representative in nature, and actualembodiments of the invention may include further features or steps notshown in the drawings. It should be appreciated that many of the screenshots and display examples are shown as monochromatic for illustration,yet in embodiments the full graphical display capabilities of thedisplay device would be utilized, for example employing coloredelements, and contrasting or changing colors to indicate information.The exemplification set out herein illustrates an embodiment of theinvention, in one form, and such exemplifications are not to beconstrued as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The embodiment disclosed below is not intended to be exhaustive or limitthe invention to the precise form disclosed in the following detaileddescription. Rather, the embodiment is chosen and described so thatothers skilled in the art may utilize its teachings. While technologyshould continue to develop and many of the elements of the embodimentsdisclosed may be replaced by improved and enhanced items, the teachingof the present invention is inherent in the disclosure of the elementsused in embodiments using technology available at the time of thisdisclosure.

The detailed descriptions which follow are presented in part in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory representing alphanumeric characters or otherinformation. A computer generally includes a processor for executinginstructions and memory for storing instructions and data. When ageneral-purpose computer has a series of machine encoded instructionsstored in its memory, the computer operating on such encodedinstructions may become a specific type of machine, namely a computerparticularly configured to perform the operations embodied by the seriesof instructions. Some of the instructions may be adapted to producesignals that control operation of other machines and thus may operatethrough those control signals to transform materials far removed fromthe computer itself. These descriptions and representations are themeans used by those skilled in the art of data processing arts to mosteffectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in theart.

An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of steps leading to a desired result. These steps are thoserequiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic pulses or signals capable of being stored, transferred,transformed, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It provesconvenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to referto these signals as bits, values, symbols, characters, display data,terms, numbers, or the like as a reference to the physical items ormanifestations in which such signals are embodied or expressed. Itshould be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely used here as convenient labels applied to these quantities.

Some algorithms may use data structures for both inputting informationand producing the desired result. Data structures greatly facilitatedata management by data processing systems and are not accessible exceptthrough sophisticated software systems. Data structures are not theinformation content of a memory, rather they represent specificelectronic structural elements which impart or manifest a physicalorganization on the information stored in memory. More than mereabstraction, the data structures are specific electrical or magneticstructural elements in memory which simultaneously represent complexdata accurately, often data modeling physical characteristics of relateditems, and provide increased efficiency in computer operation. Bychanging the organization and operation of data structures and thealgorithms for manipulating data in such structures, the fundamentaloperation of the computing system may be changed and improved.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms,such as comparing or adding, commonly associated with mental operationsperformed by a human operator. No such capability of a human operator isnecessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of the operationsdescribed herein which form part of embodiments of the presentinvention; the operations are machine operations. The operations ofthese algorithms are deterministic with the accuracy and complexitymanagement that are not obtainable by human mental steps even though thelanguage used to describe them in the detailed description below at sometime references a mental step.

This requirement for machine implementation for the practicalapplication of the algorithms is understood by those persons of skill inthis art as not a duplication of human thought, rather as significantlymore than such duplication. Useful machines for performing theoperations of one or more embodiments of the present invention includegeneral purpose digital computers or other similar devices. In all casesthe distinction between the method operations in operating a computerand the method of computation itself should be recognized. One or moreembodiments of present invention relate to methods and apparatus foroperating a computer in processing electrical or other (e.g.,mechanical, chemical) physical signals to generate other desiredphysical manifestations or signals. The computer operates on softwaremodules, which are collections of signals stored on a media thatrepresents a series of machine instructions that enable the computerprocessor to perform the machine instructions that implement thealgorithmic steps. Such machine instructions may be the actual computercode the processor interprets to implement the instructions, oralternatively may be a higher-level coding of the instructions that isinterpreted to obtain the actual computer code. The software module mayalso include a hardware component, wherein some aspects of the algorithmare performed by the circuitry itself rather as a result of aninstruction.

Some embodiments of the present invention also relate to an apparatusfor performing these operations. This apparatus may be specificallyconstructed for the required purposes or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computer as selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in the computer. The algorithms presented hereinare not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatusunless explicitly indicated as requiring particular hardware. In somecases, the computer programs may communicate or relate to other programsor equipment through signals configured to particular protocols whichmay or may not require specific hardware or programming to interact. Inparticular, various general-purpose machines may be used with programswritten in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove moreconvenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform therequired method steps. The required structure for a variety of thesemachines will appear from the description below.

In the following description, several terms which are used frequentlyhave specialized meanings in the present context. The term “object”relates to a set of computer instructions and associated data which maybe activated directly or indirectly by the user. The terms “windowingenvironment”, “running in windows”, and “object-oriented operatingsystem” are used to denote a computer user interface in whichinformation is manipulated and displayed on a video display such aswithin bounded regions on a raster scanned, liquid crystal matrix, orplasma based video display (or any similar type video display that maybe developed). The terms “network”, “local area network”, “LAN”, “widearea network”, or “WAN” mean two or more computers which are connectedin such a manner that messages may be transmitted between the computers.In such computer networks, typically one or more computers operate as a“server”, a computer with large storage devices such as hard disk drivesand communication hardware to operate peripheral devices such asprinters or modems. Other computers, termed “workstations”, provide auser interface so that users of computer networks may access the networkresources, such as shared data files, common peripheral devices, andinter-workstation communication. Users activate computer programs ornetwork resources to create “processes” which include both the generaloperation of the computer program along with specific operatingcharacteristics determined by input variables and its environment.Similar to a process is an agent (sometimes called an intelligentagent), which is a process that gathers information or performs someother service without user intervention and on some regular schedule.Typically, an agent, using parameters typically provided by the user,searches locations either on the host machine or at some other point ona network, gathers the information relevant to the purpose of the agent,and presents it to the user on a periodic basis. A “module” refers to aportion of a computer system and/or software program that carries outone or more specific functions and may be used alone or combined withother modules of the same system or program.

The term “desktop” means a specific user interface which presents a menuor display of objects with associated settings for the user associatedwith the desktop. When the desktop accesses a network resource, whichtypically requires an application program to execute on the remoteserver, the desktop calls an Application Program Interface, or “API”, toallow the user to provide commands to the network resource and observeany output. The term “Browser” refers to a program which is notnecessarily apparent to the user, but which is responsible fortransmitting messages between the desktop and the network server and fordisplaying and interacting with the network user. Browsers are designedto utilize a communications protocol for transmission of text andgraphic information over a world-wide network of computers, namely the“World Wide Web” or simply the “Web”. Examples of Browsers compatiblewith one or more embodiments of the present invention include the Chromebrowser program developed by Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.(Chrome is a trademark of Google Inc.), the Safari browser programdeveloped by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. (Safari is a registeredtrademark of Apple Inc.), Internet Explorer program developed byMicrosoft Corporation (Internet Explorer is a trademark of MicrosoftCorporation), the Opera browser program created by Opera Software ASA,or the Firefox browser program distributed by the Mozilla Foundation(Firefox is a registered trademark of the Mozilla Foundation). Althoughthe following description details such operations in terms of a graphicuser interface of a Browser, one or more embodiments of the presentinvention may be practiced with text based interfaces, or even withvoice or visually activated interfaces, that have many of the functionsof a graphic based Browser.

Browsers display information which is formatted in a StandardGeneralized Markup Language (“SGML”) or a HyperText Markup Language(“HTML”), both being scripting languages which embed non-visual codes ina text document through the use of special ASCII text codes. Files inthese formats may be easily transmitted across computer networks,including global information networks like the Internet, and allow theBrowsers to display text, images, and play audio and video recordings.The Web utilizes these data file formats to conjunction with itscommunication protocol to transmit such information between servers andworkstations. Browsers may also be programmed to display informationprovided in an eXtensible Markup Language (“XML”) file, with XML filesbeing capable of use with several Document Type Definitions (“DTD”) andthus more general in nature than SGML or HTML. The XML file may beanalogized to an object, as the data and the stylesheet formatting areseparately contained (formatting may be thought of as methods ofdisplaying information, thus an XML file has data and an associatedmethod). Similarly, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) may be used toconvert between data file formats.

The terms “personal digital assistant”, or “PDA”, or smartphone asdefined above, means any handheld, mobile device that combines two ormore of computing, telephone, fax, e-mail and networking features. Theterms “wireless wide area network” or “WWAN” mean a wireless networkthat serves as the medium for the transmission of data between ahandheld device and a computer. The term “synchronization” means theexchanging of information between a first device, e.g., a handhelddevice, and a second device, e.g., a desktop computer or a computernetwork, either via wires or wirelessly. Synchronization ensures thatthe data on both devices are identical (at least at the time ofsynchronization).

Data may also be synchronized between computer systems and telephonysystems. Such systems are known and include keypad-based data entry overa telephone line, voice recognition over a telephone line, and voiceover internet protocol (“VoIP”). In this way, computer systems mayrecognize callers by associating particular numbers with knownidentities. More sophisticated call center software systems integratecomputer information processing and telephony exchanges. Such systemsinitially were based on fixed wired telephony connections, but suchsystems have migrated to wireless technology.

In wireless wide area networks, communication primarily occurs throughthe transmission of radio signals over analog, digital cellular, orpersonal communications service (“PCS”) networks. Signals may also betransmitted through encoding and modulation of microwaves and otherelectromagnetic waves. Much wireless data communication takes placeacross cellular systems using second generation technology such ascode-division multiple access (“CDMA”), time division multiple access(“TDMA”), the Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”), ThirdGeneration (wideband or “3G”), Fourth Generation (broadband or “4G”),Fifth Generation (“5G”), personal digital cellular (“PDC”), or throughpacket-data technology over analog systems such as cellular digitalpacket data (“CDPD”) used on the Advance Mobile Phone Service (“AMPS”).

“Mobile Software” refers to the software operating system which allowsfor application programs to be implemented on a mobile device such as amobile telephone or PDA. Examples of Mobile Software are Java and JavaME (Java and JavaME are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. of SantaClara, Calif.), BREW (BREW is a registered trademark of QualcommIncorporated of San Diego, Calif.), Windows Mobile (Windows is aregistered trademark of Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington),Palm OS (Palm is a registered trademark of Palm, Inc. of Sunnyvale,Calif.), Symbian OS (Symbian is a registered trademark of SymbianSoftware Limited Corporation of London, United Kingdom), ANDROID OS(ANDROID is a registered trademark of Google, Inc. of Mountain View,Calif.), and iPhone OS (iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.of Cupertino, Calif.), and Windows Phone 7. “Mobile Apps” refers tosoftware programs written for execution with Mobile Software.

The term “Wi-Fi” or “WiFi” refers herein to protocols for providingwireless local area networking, typically used to provide multiplewireless devices with interconnection to each other and internet accessthrough a wireless access point (WAP). WiFi protocols are based on afamily of standards from the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicEngineers (IEEE) identified as standard numbers in the 802.11 family.

In the following specification, the term “social network” may be used torefer to a multiple user computer software system that allows forrelationships among and between users (individuals or members) andcontent accessible by the system. Generally, a social network is definedby the relationships among groups of individuals and may includerelationships ranging from casual acquaintances to close familial bonds.In addition, members may be other entities that may be linked withindividuals. The logical structure of a social network may berepresented using a graph structure. Each node of the graph maycorrespond to a member of the social network, or content assessable bythe social network. Edges connecting two nodes represent a relationshipbetween two individuals. In addition, the degree of separation betweenany two nodes is defined as the minimum number of hops required totraverse the graph from one node to the other. A degree of separationbetween two members is a measure of relatedness between the two members.

Social networks may comprise any of a variety of suitable arrangements.An entity or member of a social network may have a profile and thatprofile may represent the member in the social network. The socialnetwork may facilitate interaction between member profiles and allowassociations or relationships between member profiles. Associationsbetween member profiles may be one or more of a variety of types, suchas friend, co-worker, family member, business associate, common-interestassociation, and common-geography association. Associations may alsoinclude intermediary relationships, such as friend of a friend, anddegree of separation relationships, such as three degrees away.Associations between member profiles may be reciprocal associations. Forexample, a first member may invite another member to become associatedwith the first member and the other member may accept or reject theinvitation. A member may also categorize or weigh the association withother member profiles, such as, for example, by assigning a level to theassociation. For example, for a friendship-type association, the membermay assign a level, such as acquaintance, friend, good friend, or bestfriend, to the associations between the member's profile and othermember profiles.

Each profile within a social network may contain entries, and each entrymay comprise information associated with a profile. Examples of entriesfor a person profile may comprise contact information such as an emailaddresses, mailing address, instant messaging (or IM) name, or phonenumber; personal information such as relationship status, birth date,age, children, ethnicity, religion, political view, sense of humor,sexual orientation, fashion preferences, smoking habits, drinkinghabits, pets, hometown location, passions, sports, activities, favoritebooks, music, TV, or movie preferences, favorite cuisines; professionalinformation such as skills, career, or job description; photographs of aperson or other graphics associated with an entity; or any otherinformation or documents describing, identifying, or otherwiseassociated with a profile. Entries for a business profile may compriseindustry information such as market sector, customer base, location, orsupplier information; financial information such as net profits, networth, number of employees, stock performance; or other types ofinformation and documents associated with the business profile.

A member profile may also contain rating information associated with themember. For example, the member may be rated or scored by other membersof the social network in specific categories, such as humor,intelligence, fashion, trustworthiness, sexiness, and coolness. Amember's category ratings may be contained in the member's profile. Inone embodiment of the social network, a member may have fans. Fans maybe other members who have indicated that they are “fans” of the member.Rating information may also include the number of fans of a member andidentifiers of the fans. Rating information may also include the rate atwhich a member accumulated ratings or fans and how recently the memberhas been rated or acquired fans.

A member profile may also contain social network activity dataassociated with the member. Membership information may includeinformation about a member's login patterns to the social network, suchas the frequency that the member logs in to the social network and themember's most recent login to the social network. Membership informationmay also include information about the rate and frequency that a memberprofile gains associations to other member profiles. In a social networkthat comprises advertising or sponsorship, a member profile may containconsumer information. Consumer information may include the frequency,patterns, types, or number of purchases the member makes, or informationabout which advertisers or sponsors the member has accessed, patronized,or used.

A member profile may comprise data stored in memory. The profile, inaddition to comprising data about the member, may also comprise datarelating to others. For example, a member profile may contain anidentification of associations or virtual links with other memberprofiles. In one embodiment, a member's social network profile maycomprise a hyperlink associated with another member's profile. In onesuch association, the other member's profile may contain a reciprocalhyperlink associated with the first member's profile. A member's profilemay also contain information excerpted from another associated member'sprofile, such as a thumbnail image of the associated member, his or herage, marital status, and location, as well as an indication of thenumber of members with which the associated member is associated. In oneembodiment, a member's profile may comprise a list of other socialnetwork members' profiles with which the member wishes to be associated.

An association may be designated manually or automatically. For example,a member may designate associated members manually by selecting otherprofiles and indicating an association that may be recorded in themember's profile. According to one embodiment, associations may beestablished by an invitation and an acceptance of the invitation. Forexample, a first user may send an invitation to a second user invitingthe second user to form an association with the first user. The seconduser may accept or reject the invitation. According to one embodiment,if the second user rejects the invitation, a one-way association may beformed between the first user and the second user. According to anotherembodiment, if the second user rejects the association, no associationmay be formed between the two users. Also, an association between twoprofiles may comprise an association automatically generated in responseto a predetermined number of common entries, aspects, or elements in thetwo members' profiles. In one embodiment, a member profile may beassociated with all of the other member profiles comprising apredetermined number or percentage of common entries, such as interests,hobbies, likes, dislikes, employers and/or habits. Associationsdesignated manually by members of the social network, or associationsdesignated automatically based on data input by one or more members ofthe social network, may be referred to as user established associations.

Examples of social networks include, but are not limited to, Facebook,Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn, Google plus, Google circles, Instagram,Tinder, TikTok, and other systems. Social networks, as any area ofinternet-based business, are continually being created, deleted, andmodified to appeal to certain users or fulfill demand, so no list ofsocial networks or features remains complete for any time and the abovelist is purely exemplary. The exact terminology of certain features,such as associations, fans, profiles, etc. may vary from social networkto social network, although there are several functional features thatare common to the various terms. Thus, a particular social network mayhave more of less of the common features described above. In terms ofthe following disclosure, generally the use of the term “social network”encompasses a system that includes one or more of the foregoing featuresor their equivalents.

As used herein, the term “social distancing” refers to a set ofpractices and procedures intended to allow persons to have limited andconstrained participation in social activity while reducing the risk ofspreading contagious disease from one person to another. This is putinto effect where disease-causing pathogens may be spread from person toperson via airborne particles or aerosols, typically to reduce spread ofdisease in time of pandemic. Social distancing includes maintaining aspecified minimum distance or spacing between persons, e.g. maintainingat least 6 feet of separation. Social distancing may also include othermeasures with a similar objective, such as limiting the number ofpersons in an indoor space simultaneously or requiring all persons towear a mask or facial shield covering mouth and nose when in thepresence of others. Social distancing practices are often combined withother practices such as avoiding touching one's face, frequent andthorough handwashing, use of sanitizing chemicals, or wearing protectivegear such as gloves, and using virtual services for meetings wherepossible, all with the objective of preventing spread of pathogens andpreventing pathogen-caused disease spread by inter-personal contact andby sharing air that may contain pathogens.

As used herein, the term “Utility” refers a consumable commodityprovided to a location via a specifically configured delivery network,supplied in amounts and at rates to meet timely demand by consumers atthat location. Thus, a utility is often said to “flow” to the locationand the commodity provided is “used” at the location. The location isoften a dwelling, residence, business, or factory. Examples of a utilityservice are, without limitation: electricity, water, hot water, naturalgas, steam, propane, compressed air, internet service, and cabletelevision.

As used herein, the term “well-being” is a noun that relates to thecondition of a person being monitored, also termed “well-being status.”A person's well-being status describes his or her overall state ofhealth and ability to maintain independence and successfully undertakenormal daily activities.

FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of an arrangement 100 of components inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. Utility supply 106is a conduit that supplies a utility to a residence or part of aresidence. The utility may be any of the various utility servicestypically provided to a residence, such as hot water or electricity.Sensor 108 senses flow of utility through supply 106. It should beappreciated that supply 106 provides unidirectional flow of the utilityservice. It should also be appreciated that sensor 108 is selected tosense the utility item flowing through supply 106 and those skilled inthe art will recognize that a sensor must be selected to correspond tothe type of utility being sensed, sensor location, and desired accuracy.For example, different sensing technology is required to sense flow ofelectricity than for sensing flow of water, and in embodiments, manysensor types and sensing technologies are employed, all in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

Although various sensors and sensing techniques are known in the art,embodiments of the present invention benefit from selection of certainsensors for specific types of utility, and the sensor selection andadvantages will become apparent from subsequent descriptions herein. Invarious embodiments, the invention relies on data from a selectedsensor, but nothing in the invention requires a specific sensor, or typeof sensing equipment, or device.

Similarly in FIG. 1, optional sensor 104 senses unidirectional flow ofUtility Supply 102. Utility supply 102 may be of the same type ofutility as supply 106 or of a different type. Optional sensor 104 isshown to illustrate an alternate embodiment of the invention. It shouldbe appreciated that the invention described herein may be implementedwith a single sensor 108 sensing flow of a single utility 106, or withone or multiple additional sensors such as sensor 104 sensing flow ofutility supply 102, and that additional sensors such as sensor 104 maysense the same type of utility or another type, and that each sensor isselected to sense the type of utility flow as in Utility Supply 102.

Although a single additional sensor 104 is shown, it is to be understoodthat no limit is implied on the number or type of sensors used, in factthe opposite is true—the point is to illustrate that embodiments of thepresent invention may incorporate any number and type of sensorsattached to sense flow of any number and type of utility supplies.

Still referring to FIG. 1, data processor 118 collects and appliesprocessing algorithms to sensor data. Data from sensor 108 is collectedthrough connector 114. In embodiments where Sensor 104 is present, Dataprocessor 118 collects data from sensor 104 through connector 116.

Those familiar with the art will appreciate that although dataconnectors 114 and 116 are shown as transmitting data to data processor118, sensor 108 and sensor 104 typically are not stand alone but requiresupport electronics (not shown) from data processor 118. This supportmay include power, excitation, bias, sampling, or validity checking.

In addition, time base 110 provides timing information throughconnection 112 to data processor 118. Time base 110 serves to providetwo functions. First, time base 110 provides calendar and time-of-dayinformation to use in tagging data collected from sensor 108 and inembodiments where present, tagging other sensors such as Sensor 104.Second, time base 110 provides clocking information to support dataprocessor 118 in measuring intervals and rates of change over intervals.

Data processor 118, in some embodiments, provides detection of utilityusage events. A utility usage event is defined herein as a period ofutility flow marked by an initial beginning or “attack” phase, aduration of flow phase, and a “decay” or cessation of flow phase,matched with a time tag to indicate where in calendar time the eventoccurred. These elements are further described later.

Storage 122 provides a reference sequence. In some embodiments, this isa sequence of utility usage events via communication path 126 tocomparison 128. Comparison 128 obtains a present usage data streamthrough link 124 from data processor 118. Comparison 128 compares thepresent and reference data sequence to determine when attention orfurther attention is required.

Note that in some embodiments, the reference sequence provided bystorage 122 is based on a pre-determined sequence. In other embodimentsof the present invention, the system learns or updates referencepatterns in storage 122 using present data, provided from data processor118 via link 120.

Comparison 128 uses pattern matching techniques to determine ifreference pattern from storage 122 matches present behavior from dataprocessor 118. The result is communicated via link 130 to status/alerting mechanism 132.

It should be appreciated the processing blocks shown here are describedas implementing various functions but in embodiments the functions maybe distributed across many processors and spread far apart using networkconnections. That is, the schematic depictions show operations, onepossible order of operations, and data flow but are not representativeof physical or geographical locations where the operations occur.

FIG. 2 is a depiction of high-level components and functions essentialto implementing a system 200 according to embodiments of the presentinvention. Data are collected from sensed utility usage at sensing 202.Data is processed at logic 204 and results shared via status/alerting206.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are schematic depictions of prior art methods andsystems for signaling and remote sensing that will be helpful inillustrating particular features and advantages of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 3A, prior art system 300 shows a signalingsystem. Sending device 306 uses connection 304 to send a signal that isdetected by receiving device 302. System 300 may be implemented usingmany types of media for carrying the signal between sending device 306and receiving device 302. For example, the media may be an electriccurrent that is modulated or interrupted by sending device 302 and theflow of electricity through connection 304 is detected at receivingdevice 302. Such a system is the basis of many signaling systems,including telegraph, telephone, television, and computer networks.

FIG. 3B depicts prior art system 350 wherein the range of a sensor isextended through communication means. Position sensor 352 sensesphysical position 354 of an object physically near to sensor 352.Position sensing is used for illustration but those familiar with theart will understand similar means may be applied to many types ofsensing and sensors. Still referring to FIG. 3B, sensor 356 sensesremote position 360 through signal and physical communication providedby connecting rod 358. Thus, the range of sensor 356 is extended to agreater distance using communication means provided by connecting rod358.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of the present invention where a utilitynetwork is used for signaling or remote sensing. System 400 showsutility supply 402 connected to utility delivery network 406 thatdelivers utility media 408 to remote locations, for example the locationof valve 410. Although a simple network 406 and a single valve 410 isshown, this is for simplicity of explanation only and embodiments of theinvention may be implemented on arbitrarily complex networks with manyvalves.

It will be appreciated that in system 400 of FIG. 4, utility media 408flows from utility supply 402 through utility network 406 only whenvalve 410 is opened. It may be further appreciated that this flow issensed by flow sensor 404 in combination with sensor electronics 412.Thus, the status of valve 410 is detectable at any point in network 406by sensing flow of utility media 408, and such flow sensing is providedby sensor 404 in combination with sensing electronics 412. In oneembodiment system 400 provides a binary signaling capability wheresensor electronics 412 detects two states of flow through network 406,on or off, corresponding to flow or no-flow, and only determines ifvalve 410 is fully closed or not closed. In another embodiment, acontinuously variable analog signaling capability is provided whereinsensor 404 and sensor electronics 412 detect the amount or velocity offlow of utility media 408, which in turn provides remote sensing ofposition and degree of openness of valve 410.

A limitation and feature of system 400 is that the flow of utility media408 is unidirectional and always flows from supply 402 to outlets suchas valve 410. The signaling and sensing relies on information flow thatis contrary in direction to the flow of utility media 408. This providesa useful feature in various embodiments, where the location of sensor404 may be selected to provide sensing of a desired sub-network of acomplex utility network. Essentially sensor 404 senses only flow that isdownstream (i.e., flow past sensor in a direction away from supply 402)of its location in the network. This is used, in various embodiments, toseparate various sub-networks for more specific sensing.

Referring back to FIG. 3B (prior art), it may be appreciated that thefunction of connecting rod 358 only requires that rod 358 be continuousand made from relatively inflexible material. The function of rod 358does not depend on the material, which may be metal, plastic, wood, orcomposites, or a combination. Similarly, in embodiments of the presentinvention, the sensing range of sensor 404 is extended by utility media408. The function of utility media 408 is not dependent on the type ofmedia, only requiring a media type that is contained within a closedsystem and relatively incompressible such as water in plumbing, orelectron flow in wiring, or pressurized gas in hose or tubing.

In one embodiment, media 408 is electricity or the flow of electrons,and media network 406 is electrical wiring, and signal communication isprovided by electrical communication via electron flow.

In another embodiment, media 408 is water at a temperature greater thanroom temperature (i.e., hot water), and network 406 is a plumbingsystem, and signal communication is provided by counter-directionalfluidic communication. In such an embodiment, Sensor 404 may utilizediffering means to sense flow of media 408. In one embodiment, sensor404 detects flow of hot water through network 406 by measuringtemperature of pipes comprising network 406, specifically measuring pipetemperature in at least one selected location in network 406. In anotherembodiment, sensor 404 detects flow of hot water through network 406 bymeasuring temperature rate of change of the outside surface of pipescomprising network 406, specifically measuring temperature rate in atleast one selected location in network 408. Algorithms for using pipetemperature or temperature rate sensing to infer flow according toembodiments of the invention are described elsewhere in the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a utility network system in which embodiments of thepresent invention may be utilized. It is a particular feature thatembodiments of the present invention may be installed into any arbitraryutility network without modification to the existing networkconfiguration. It is also a feature of the present invention thatembodiments may also be designed into a newly installed network, as inconstruction of a new home, apartment, or commercial facility. Thus, theinvention is well suited both as an addition to an existing system, andalso as a component of new construction.

It should be understood that in FIG. 5 and subsequent figures, a sensoris often shown without showing connections to other electronics orsignal processing. This is for simplicity only as these connections aredescribed elsewhere herein and it should be understood every sensor isconnected to electronics and signal processing that are implied but notdepicted in all figures; no sensor is standalone.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, system 500 is a residential hot waterutility delivery network comprising hot water supply 502 providing hotwater to residential plumbing network 504. Hot water supply 502 may bederived from any source, for example, using gas, electricity, or solarenergy to heat “cold” water. Cold water is a term used to refer to waterat the temperature delivered from the supply—often a municipal utilitysupply or a well. It is assumed and common that such utility supply isdelivered with adequate pressure to ensure useful flow in network 504and in some cases the pressure is augmented by tanks, pumps, or thelike.

The depicted plumbing network 504 and components in system 500 aregreatly simplified and intended to represent the wide variety ofconfigurations and connections compatible with embodiments of thepresent invention, rather than to imply any limitation or preferredconfiguration and no limitation should be inferred from the simplifieddiagram.

In some embodiments of the present invention, hot water flow is sensedin a hot water delivery network. This sensing is enabled by observedcharacteristic behavior of hot water delivery networks, which areconsequences of basic principles of physics and thermodynamics. First,it is observed that most residential hot water systems supply hot waterat a temperature of 110 to 125 degrees F., and said temperature issignificantly above the ambient temperature in all but the most extremeclimates and environments. When hot water flows into the plumbingcomprising the hot water delivery network, the pipes are heated and theflow is detected by sensing the increasing surface temperature of theplumbing, or particularly at a pipe surface at a selected point in theplumbing network, due to transfer of heat from the flowing fluid to thematerial comprising the pipes and junctions.

Utility piping is usually comprised of pipes made from materials such ascopper, galvanized iron, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), cross-linkedpolyethylene (PEX), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), orcombinations of these. Although these piping materials all havedifferent heat conduction properties, all these and various other pipingmaterials are suitable for application of the present invention.

Conversely when water is not flowing, the elevated surface temperaturein combination with the fact that the pipe temperature is greater thanthe ambient surroundings, causes the pipe and the contained stagnantwater to begin to cool, and continue to cool until an equilibriumtemperature near ambient is reached at the pipe surface and in thecontained liquid. However, when hot water again begins flowing in thepipe (i.e. in response to a new demand for hot water by opening a valveor faucet at any point in the plumbing network), the surface temperatureof the pipes in the plumbing network rapidly begins to rise until itreaches a temperature near the temperature of the flowing hot waterwithin the pipe. This cycle continues as valves are opened and closedthroughout the plumbing network.

It is further notable that the sensing of flow using a measurement ofthe surface temperature of a pipe does not require a sensor or system tomeasure the absolute temperature of the pipe surface in a unit such asdegrees Fahrenheit. Rather, it is sufficient to measure the change ofpipe surface temperature over time, or the change of temperature oversome pre-determined time interval. Additional detection uses sensingtemperature maximums, again unit-less, and also without the need tosense absolute temperature, only that a temperature at a point in timeis higher than other contemporaneously observed temperatures. Risingtemperature corresponds to positive rates and hot water flow, whilenegative rates and decreasing temperature is observed when water is notflowing, or has ceased flowing, corresponding to no demand for hotwater, i.e. a faucet or valve that was opened has subsequently beenclosed.

A maximum temperature measurement indicates that a pipe has reachedequilibrium, or that the pipe surface temperature is the same as thetemperature of the elevated temperature water flowing within orindicates that internal pipe flow has stopped before the pipe reachedthe temperature of the internal hot water. Correspondingly, a minimumtemperature indicates that the pipe surface and liquid within havedecreased in temperature to match ambient surroundings or that flow wasrestarted before the pipe reached ambient. Those familiar with themathematics of the art will appreciate that a maximum or minimumtemperature corresponds to a point in time where the rate of change oftemperature, or time derivative, of the measured temperature is zero.Thus, there is a mathematical connection between measuring rates anddetecting a maximum or minimum temperature, and detection algorithmsaccording to embodiments are built upon distinguishing intervals ofpositive, negative, or zero rate of change.

Relying on rate of change of pipe surface temperature and relativemaximums, rather than measuring absolute temperature, has a number ofadvantages in practical implementations. First, sensing a temperaturerate or maximum is much less demanding for a sensor, allowing lessexpensive sensors to be selected. Even sensors that have poor absolutemeasurement accuracy may be used to accurately sense a relativetemperature—that is, a difference in temperature over a relatively shorttime interval. In other words, it is much easier to sense that atemperature of an object is increasing or decreasing or at a maximum,rather than sense the absolute temperature of the object. In addition,the installation and setup of the system is simplified. A systemrequiring absolute temperature measurement would typically requirecareful installation and calibration, adding effort and expense. Asystem relying on measurement of relative temperature and temperaturerate is much easier to install and requires no such calibration.

Specific details of techniques used in embodiments of the invention forusing time rate of change of pipe surface temperature to sense flow ofhot water within the pipe, are described in conjunction with othersections and figures herein.

Referring to FIG. 5, Hot water plumbing network 504 provides hot waterto various locations in a residence. Four illustrative rooms aredepicted for simplicity of explanation but not to imply anylimitation—an actual residence is likely to have many more rooms andplumbing fixtures and a much more extensive plumbing network, and thepresent invention is in no way limited in application to any room, typeof room, plumbing devices, number of rooms, plumbing network size, orfixtures. Network 504 connects to 1^(st) Bathroom 542, supplying sink528, controlled by valve 512, and bathtub 530 controlled by valve 514.Network 504 also connects to 2^(nd) bathroom 544, supplying sink 532controlled by valve 518, and shower 534 controlled by valve 518. Network504 similarly connects to kitchen 546 where valve 520 controls supply tosink 536, and valve 524 controls supply to dishwasher 538. Network 504also connects to laundry room 548, where valve 526 controls flow toclothes washer appliance 540.

The present invention relies on flow detection in network 504 providedby sensors 506, 508, and 510. Three sensors are shown but it should beappreciated that fewer or more sensors may be used in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. In fact, complete embodiments ofthe present invention may be practiced with a single sensor, such assensor 506. In an embodiment, sensor 506 is used as the only sensor andis advantageously located as near as possible to hot water supply 502.For example, hot water supply 502 is generated by a hot water heatingappliance such as Bradford-White model RG130T6N gas fired ResidentialWater Heater. The present invention works equally well with any hotwater source, whether gas, electric, solar, residential, or commercial,and whether with a tank or tankless design. In embodiments using asingle hot water flow sensor, the sensor is most advantageously locatedas near as practical to the point of entry of the hot water into network504, which in most cases corresponds to the exit piping where heatedwater leaves the heating appliance. This, as discussed above, providesmaximal sensing of usage anywhere in the residence because all ofnetwork 504 is downstream of sensor 506 when so located. Thiscorresponds, referring to FIG. 5, to sensor 506 located at point ofentrance of hot water supply 502.

In other embodiments, additional sensors provide additional flowdetection. In system 500 of FIG. 5 an embodiment including three sensors506, 508, and 510 is illustrative. Sensor 506 will detect flow of hotwater to any device connected to the plumbing network 504. Sensor 508detects usage downstream, so only detects usage in 1^(st) bathroom 542or 2^(nd) bathroom 544. Similarly, sensor 510 detects usage in laundryroom 510.

It may be appreciated that plumbing system 504 is a closed system withfinite and pre-determined entry and exit points, and therefore any flowdetected by sensor 506 must correspond to usage at a connected locationso logical inferences may be made. For example, in system 500, if flowis detected by sensor 506 but no flow is detected by sensor 508 nor bysensor 510 then it may be inferred that hot water is flowing to kitchen546 and not to any other room.

In various embodiments, the present invention detects human activitythat corresponds to usage of utilities, in some embodiments, to usage ofhot water. Referring again to FIG. 5, sensor 506 will detect activitiessuch as bathing in shower 534 or bathtub 530, or use of sink 528 or sink532 or kitchen sink 536. This is because the person will operate thecorresponding valve—one of valves 512, 514, 516, 518, or 520, which areeach manually operated valves. Operation of a valve creates flow, andflow is detected. There are also automatically operated valves such asvalve 524 for dishwasher appliance 538 and valve 526 for clothes washerappliance 540. Although valves 524 and 526 are not manually operated,their use corresponds to human activity because they are secondaryresults of human actions—either initiating a washing cycle at clotheswasher appliance 540 or at dish washer appliance 538, requiring a humanto prepare and activate the corresponding appliance. Although theseappliances operate on an automatic programmed cycle once initiated, eachcycle must be initiated by a human operator using specific controlinputs.

FIG. 6 schematically depicts another utility network system in whichembodiments of the present invention may be utilized. System 600 is aschematic depiction of a residential electricity utility deliverynetwork. It should be noted, with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, thatthe present invention as described herein is not limited to anyparticular type of utility or specific utility delivery network. Wheredescriptions or illustrations refer to specific type of sensorappropriate for one type of utility and utility network, those skilledin the art will understand that the invention description is readilyadapted to other types of utilities by substitution of an appropriatesensor. For example, those skilled in the art recognize that sensingflow of electricity requires an ammeter or electrical current flowdetector.

Referring to FIG. 6 and system 600, electric utility service enters theresidence at service feeder 614 and is connected in breaker/fuse panel616. Most, but not all residences have main breaker 612 and at least onebranch circuit breaker 602. Each branch circuit breaker 602 controls andprotects corresponding branch circuit 604, 608, or 610. Branch circuit604 supplies electrical utility feed to outdoor 620. Branch circuit 606supplies electrical utility feed to bedroom 622. Branch circuit 608supplies electrical utility feed to kitchen 624.

In various embodiments, a single sensor 610 is sufficient to implementthe present invention, and sensor 610 is advantageously located to senseflow of electricity through entire utility network by locating sensor610 upstream of branch breakers 602. In another embodiment, additionalsensors such as sensor 626 are installed. Sensor 626 is installed inlocation to sense only electric usage in kitchen 624.

A notable aspect according to embodiments, is that certain appliancesuse multiple types of utility and thus connect to multiple utilitynetworks. For example, a clothes washing appliance connects to electric,hot water, and cold-water delivery networks and uses those utilities inunique and recognizable pattern. Similarly, an automatic dishwasher orheating unit connects to multiple networks and uses those in a uniquepattern and combination.

It should be noted that although descriptions of embodiments hereinoften include only a single sensor, or a single type of utility orsensed usage of residential utility delivery network, some embodimentsof the present invention include multiple sensors and sensing usage in aplurality of types of utility networks in a residence. Additionalsensors provide additional data and time correlation and fusion of datafrom multiple sensors to further detect usage patterns and humanactivity is in the scope of embodiments the present invention.

However, embodiments with multiple sensors or sensing multiple utilitytypes require more thorough knowledge of the utility network topologyand location of sensors, as well as more complex sensor data collectionand connections.

FIG. 7 illustrates the correlation between human activity and usage ofutilities in a residence, a correlation that forms the basis forembodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, of the manyutility types, hot water usage correlates to the widest variety of humanactivities and several that correspond to the ADL measures. As detailedelsewhere in this disclosure, embodiments of the present invention areparticularly suited for detection of flow of hot water utility. However,embodiments of the present invention may be implemented using anyutility and corresponding sensing of usage.

In addition to correlation of human activities with utility usage,embodiments of the present invention are based on the observation thatpeople, especially those able to live independently and maintain apositive well-being status, tend to follow routines that repeat daily,weekly, or maintain a routine for each day of the week. For example,utility usage by a person may differ slightly between consecutiveweekdays, on weekends, or between corresponding past weekdays (e.g., aTuesday compared to previous week Tuesday). In general, usage by aparticular person exhibits patterns that may be observed, generalized,noted, and used to detect cause for concern. This is due to repetitionof activities that cause utility usage, for example showering, washingdishes, or doing laundry, which tend to correspond to the particularperson's typical daily schedule of waking, bathing, eating, or washingclothes.

In particular, a person deviating significantly from a past routine ofutility usage times and durations, or events as used in the presentinvention, is likely in need of assistance or experiencing somedifficulty. It may be appreciated that people will change behavior forreasons other than being in distress or needing help. A feature ofembodiments of the present invention is automatic separation todistinguish changes that require assistance or further attention, fromchanges in patterns that are merely variation of habits or responses tochanges in schedule, seasons, weather, or the like. It is a furtherfeature of the present invention that a human user may interact with thedetection logic to pause or stop notifications when it is known thatlack of usage may not indicate an actual need for assistance, as duringa vacation.

Maintaining Activities of Daily Life (ADLs) is highly correlated withusage of utilities—electricity, gas, internet, water. In particular, hotwater usage may be a proxy for a person maintaining essential ADLfunctions, especially mobility, eating, and bathing. Monitoringutilities may often be accomplished simply, without invasion of privacyor intrusive sensors, and using utilities is a natural and organic partof daily living so provides an easily monitored and effective detectionof a person's well-being status.

While ADLs provide a generic non-personalized monitoring standard,monitoring utility usage may be expanded to provide more sophisticatedand personalized monitoring, when combined with advanced signaldetection, processing, and storage. Such a system may be configured tolearn the normal patterns of behavior of an individual and compareongoing usage to detect when behavior differs from the learned normal orshows anomalies that are cause for concern. Thus, in variousembodiments, a monitoring scheme is provided that is tailored to thehabits and routines of an individual being monitored.

FIG. 8 schematically depicts applying embodiments of the presentinvention to a multi-unit dwelling utility network with a shared hotwater heater that supplies all units. In system 800, cold water supply802 provides water to hot water heater 804 supplying hot waterdistribution network 806. Four residential units are shown-1^(st) Unit816, 2^(nd) Unit 818, 3^(rd) Unit 820 and Nth Unit 522. The number ofunits depicted is small to facilitate explanation of embodiments in asimple fashion and does not imply any limitation on the number of unitsthat may be used in accordance with the teachings of the presentinvention. In actual embodiments, the number of units scale to hundreds,thousands, or more. The utility itself may only monitor the resourcesprovided to the multi-unit dwelling even though resources are providedto several residences individually, however, embodiments of theinvention have sensors located in one or more residences of themulti-unit dwelling to separately monitor the utility resources consumedin each unit having a sensor.

In embodiments where it is desirable to separately detect usage in eachof the units 816, 816, 820, and 822, a sensor is dedicated to each unit.In some embodiments, it is desired to only monitor a subset of allunits, or only a single unit, and sensors need only be installedcorresponding to units to be monitored.

Referring to FIG. 8 and in accordance with the discussion above, sensor808 detects usage in unit 816, sensor 810 detects usage in unit 818,sensor 812 detects usage in unit 830, and sensor 814 detects usage inunit 822.

FIG. 9 schematically depicts applying embodiments of the presentinvention to a utility network in a multi-unit dwelling where eachdwelling has a dedicated hot water heater. In system 900, fourresidential units are shown-1st Unit 928, 2nd Unit 930, 3rd Unit 932 andNth Unit 934. The number of units is small to facilitate explanation ofembodiments in a simple fashion and does not imply any limitation on thenumber of units that may be used in accordance with the teachings of thepresent invention. In actual embodiments, the number of units scale tohundreds, thousands, or more. Cold water supply 902 provides water tohot water heater 904 supplying Hot Water Distribution Network 912 tounit 928. Cold water supply 902 provides water to hot water heater 906supplying Hot Water Distribution Network 914 to unit 930. Cold watersupply 902 provides water to hot water heater 908 supplying Hot WaterDistribution Network 916 to unit 932. Cold water supply 902 provideswater to hot water heater 910 supplying Hot Water Distribution Network918 to unit 934.

In embodiments where it is desirable to separately detect usage in eachof the units, a sensor is dedicated to each unit. In some embodiments,it is desired to only monitor a subset of all units, or only a singleunit, then sensors need only be installed corresponding to a unit to bemonitored.

Referring to FIG. 9 and in accordance with the discussion above, sensor920 detects usage in Unit 928, sensor 922 detects usage in unit 930,sensor 924 detects usage in unit 932, and sensor 926 detects usage inUnit 934.

FIG. 10 depicts a detailed embodiment of components and devices arrangedto implement an embodiment of the present invention in system 1000. Inthe event that hot water flows in plumbing network 1002, flow sensor1004 detects the flow by measuring the temperature of the outsidesurface of a pipe component at a selected location in plumbing network1002. As detailed elsewhere in the descriptions herein, flow sensor 1004is located at a selected advantageous location in plumbing network 1002.In the described embodiment the location is at the entry of hot waterinto plumbing network 1002.

In one embodiment sensor 1004 is an NTC thermistor of typeTH310J39GBSN(25/85) manufactured by Amphenol Advanced Sensors, althoughother similar sensors may be equivalent in function or performance or besubstituitable. Those familiar with the art will appreciate that athermistor sensor must be attached to an excitation network. Often athermistor is configured as a part of a voltage divider and a voltagecorresponding to temperature is measured. The excitation network andtemperature measurement are provided by processing electronics 1006.Processing electronics 1006 also connects to the internet 1014 throughcommunication link 1008, WiFi Router/Gateway 1010, and network dataconnection 1012. In some embodiments, processing electronics 1006maintains the present time and periodically synchronizes with internettime servers to maintain a local clock that supplies accurate time.

Those familiar with the art will readily understand the mechanism,methods, and configuration for connection to the internet 1014 usingcommonly available network components such as Router/Gateway 1010 andwill also understand that various protocols and encoding techniques maybe used to transfer data and synchronize with time servers, all inaccordance with the invention described herein. Nothing in the inventionrelies on a specific data network or type of communication, but onlyrequires that a suitable network connection is provided.

In one embodiment, processing electronics 1006 includes a small computerwith a WiFi network interface, model Photon, available from ParticleIndustries Incorporated of San Francisco, Calif. Processing electronics1006 in this embodiment also includes a voltage divider excitationcircuit for thermistor sensor 1004.

Processing electronics 1006 and sensor 1004 periodically measure thetemperature of the pipe surface in plumbing network 1002 and transmitthe temperature and measurement time to IoT (Internet of Things) server1016, transferring data via WiFi link 1008, WiFi Router/Gateway 1012,internet connection 1012, and Internet 1014, internet connection 1019,to IoT server 1016.

IoT server 1016 sends the measured data and time tags to Google ComputeServices (GCS) server 1022 via internet connection 1018, internet 1014,and internet connection 1020. In the embodiment of system 1000, GCSserver 1022 operates in conjunction with GCS Database 1024 to providedata processing and storage. Although a single server is shown as GCSServer 1022, and a single Database 1024, those familiar with the artrecognize that GCS is a collection of many servers and data baseservers, all operating in conjunction, and that from an implementationperspective and for purposes of the descriptions of the inventionherein, they may be treated as if they were a single computer devicewithout loss of any detail.

A particular feature of the present invention is illustrated by theembodiment described in FIG. 10 and system 1000, in that the functionalprocess steps required (as described in reference to FIG. 2) aredistributed among multiple computing and storage elements that aregeographically distributed and connected via internet 1014 andappropriate connections 1012, 1018, and 1020. It should be appreciatedthat many embodiments with different distributions of processing,storage, and communication links may be implemented without departingfrom the spirit of the invention described herein. In particular, FIG. 2describes processing/logic 204, which is implemented in the embodimentof system 1000 as distributed among processing electronics 1006, IoTServer 1016 and GCS Server 1022, using corresponding communication links1012, 1018, and 1020 with internet 1014. This is only one possibledistribution of functions and processing; many other distributions arepossible, all in accordance with the present invention.

This feature of flexible and configurable location and distributionallows an implementer of the present invention to select a desirabledistribution of functions, for example to simplify implementation, useexisting components or features, minimize expense, or maximizethroughput. In the embodiment of system 1000, processing is distributedbetween three locations. Although these locations may be imagined to begeographical, they are better conceived as virtual locations in theinternet cloud. Their physical or geographical locations are notimportant and are in fact often unknown to the user or designer.

In the embodiment of system 1000, processing that is advantageouslyperformed locally near to sensor 1004 is performed at processingelectronics 1006, physically in location 1042 which corresponds to aresidence being monitored at location 1042. In this embodiment, thePhoton device is particularly suited to communicate with IoT Server1016, located at Particle.io location 1044. Server 1016 is shown assingle server for simplicity but particle.io may actually have manyservers and many locations. Finally, GCS 1046 provides server 1022 anddatabase 1024.

It should also be appreciated that although a single location 1042 andsensor is illustrated in FIG. 10, this is to simplify the description ofthe invention. In actual implementations, the invention supports manyresidences, sensors, and locations and readily scales to thousands ormillions of locations and corresponding sensors.

Still referring to FIG. 10, in the depicted embodiment of system 1000,GCS Server 1022 and GCS Database 1024 receive the sensor data andimplement the data processing functions described herein and furtherdetailed in other sections. As described, this results in a statusdetermination of the person being monitored. The status determination isupdated periodically and made available via Web Servers on GCS Server1022.

This status may be accessed using any suitable internet web browsingdevice and browser application. In one embodiment, an applicationprogram that displays status and allows status queries is provided thatis installable on a wireless portable communication device, such as asmart phone, tablet computer, or portable computer. Further details ofthe status and alerting and associated application program are describedsubsequently in the present application.

Referring to FIG. 10, user 1030 uses browser 1028 via internet links1026 and 1020 to access a web page on GCS Server 1022. Alternatively,user 1040 accesses a web page on GCS Server 1023 vial link 1036,cellular data network 1034, and link 1032.

GCS Server 1022 also implements an algorithm, described further hereinelsewhere, to determine if an alert should be sent to user 1040. Inactual implementation there may be thousands or millions of userscorresponding to user 1040 and user 1030. These are representative ofone of those many users and it should be understood that the presentinvention is most useful, and designed, to scale to many thousands ormillions of users.

Accordingly, if the algorithms and logic in GCS Server 1022 result in aconclusion that an alert should be sent, based on the data from aparticular location, an alert is sent to subscribed user 1040 andwireless device 1038 using mobile links 1032 and 1036 and mobile network1034.

In one embodiment, the text alert is provided as a text message, forexample an SMS format message, and the messaging service relay isprovided by Twillio of San Francisco, Calif.

FIG. 11 shows a detailed depiction of another embodiment according todescriptions of the present invention in system 1100. This is toillustrate the flexibility and wide range of implementations andembodiments possible, all consistent with the present invention. Insystem 1100, in the event that hot water flows in plumbing network 1102,flow sensor 1104 detects the flow by measuring the temperature of theoutside surface of a pipe component in plumbing network 1102.

In one embodiment sensor 1104 is an infrared non-contact sensor. Theexcitation network and temperature measurement are provided by computingelectronics 1106. Computing electronics 1106 connects to network cloud1110 through communication link 1108. Link 1108 is, in variousembodiments, implemented using wired or wireless networking technology,with data communication provided by WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, cellulardata, or WWAN, or by any combination of these. In some embodiments,computing electronics 1106 maintains the present time and periodicallysynchronizes with time servers to maintain and provide accuratetimekeeping.

Also connected to network cloud 1110 is smartphone 1114 throughcommunication link 1112. All data processing functions in thisembodiment are executed by computing electronics 1106, in smartphone1114, or in cloud computing resources (not shown).

The embodiment in system 1100 has several notable differences from theembodiment of system 1000 in FIG. 10, further illustrating that theinvention herein does not rely on any specific sensor type, networkconnection, distribution of computational tasks among availableresources, or communication link.

FIG. 12 is a pictorial description of a data structure and hierarchyused in embodiments of the present invention. The data hierarchy 1200depicted in FIG. 12 illustrates how embodiments of the present inventionscale essentially without limit, for example to thousands or millions ofpersons monitored, sensors, locations, and users.

Many of the descriptions presented herein show only one or a smallquantity of various components in illustrations of various embodiments,for simplicity of illustration and description. However, it should beunderstood that embodiments of the present invention may scale tosupport thousands or millions of components.

Referring to FIG. 12, four locations are shown to represent a number oflocations, and in embodiments a large number of locations are included.Person monitored 1202 is at location 1206, person monitored 1208 is atlocation 1214, person monitored 1216 is at location 1220, and Nth personmonitored 1222 is at location 1226.

Each location has one or more utility usage sensors. Location 1206 hassensor 1204. Location 1214 has sensors 1210 and 1212. Location 1220 hassensor 1218. Location 1226 has sensor 1224. It may be seen that theconcept of “location” is affiliated with a single person monitored andone or more sensors that monitor the well-being of the person monitored,through utility flow detection and processing.

In FIG. 12, four users 1228, 1230, 1232, and 1234 are shown to representa large number of users. A user in this embodiment and elsewhere hereinis a person who wishes to track the health and well-being of a personmonitored. Each user may subscribe to receive alerts and status of noneor any set of the persons monitored 1202, 1208, 1216 or 1222. In theillustrated embodiment, this subscription may be multi-valued, that isany of locations 1206, 1214, 1220, or 1226 may be subscribed by morethan one of users 1228, 1230, 1232, or 1234. This is shown in FIG. 12where user 1230 is subscribed to both person monitored 1208 (location1214) and to person monitored 1215 (location 1220).

Similarly, a location may be subscribed-to by more than one usersimultaneously. This is shown in FIG. 12 as location 1220 (Personmonitored 1216) is subscribed by both user 1230 and user 1232.

The Data Hierarchy 1200 may be scaled up with no practical limit andincorporate a variety of configurations and components in variousembodiments. Not shown and essential in embodiments of the invention aresecurity mechanisms to allow only authorized users to monitor a person,to protect privacy and safety of persons monitored.

FIG. 13 illustrates flow of data, and process steps, and storage, inaccordance with embodiments implementing the present invention. Itshould be appreciated that this sequence is performed for each personmonitored and location. Data process 1300 begins at 1302 where sensordata and corresponding information such as time tag are received. At1304 all received data is stored in archive 1306. At 1308 data isprocessed in accordance with embodiments of descriptions herein,including detection of utility usage events. Events are stored in datarepository store 1310.

At 1312, event start times and durations are arranged in a time-baseddata structure “fingerprint” and recorded in fingerprint store 1314. Insome embodiments, the fingerprint generated at 1312 is an algorithmiccombination of new data with past data. In other embodiments, multiplefingerprints may be kept for a time period—for example, fingerprintsfrom the last five (or any selected number) most recent Tuesdays may bekept in store 1314.

At 1316, the present (i.e., most recently observed) fingerprint iscompared to a reference pattern. In various embodiments, the referencepattern may be from a standard set of criteria, from observation of past“typical” usage patterns for this person monitored, or from a set ofrules defined, or another reference standard. In embodiments, patternmatching and contrasting determines if present usage patterns are causefor concern at 1318. At 1320 the status of the person monitored isstored in repository 1322.

FIG. 14A and 14B schematically depict sensor data and processing methodsto detect flow and flow events in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. FIG. 14A shows a graphical display of various signalsplotted vs. time, displayed on the horizontal axis. Signal 1402 issensed temperature data from a single sensor attached to a hot waterpipe and values correspond to the left vertical axis where temperaturein degrees Fahrenheit is marked. Signal 1404 is the time derivative(instantaneous time rate-of-change) of temperature signal 1402. Signal1404 is the binary result of an event detection algorithm according toan embodiment of the present invention, where a high value indicates andeven duration and a low value indicates times when no detected event ishappening.

In accordance with embodiments of descriptions of the present invention,a flow of hot water may be detected from a time series of temperaturesensor data periodically sampled saved in a time history. This detectionis illustrated in Graph 1400, where several flow events are highlighted.Flow event 1408, 1410, 1412, 1414, 1416, 1418, and 1420 are depicted inthe figure. Each event is characterized by an initial or attackrate-of-change that exceeds a pre-determined threshold. Rate of changeis plotted in signal 1404. Each event 1408, 1410, 1412, 1414, 1416,1418, and 1420, then has a duration before the end of the event isdetected based on a negative (less than zero) rate of change oftemperature; temperature reaches a local maximum then begins todecrease.

It is a notable feature of an embodiment of the invention that detectionof event beginning and ending relies only on rate of change anddetection of a local maximum. In some embodiments, an instantaneous rateof change (time derivative) is used. In other embodiments, an averagerate of temperature change over a time interval is used. In oneembodiment, a cumulative temperature change corresponding to a rate ofchange of 5 degrees difference over a time interval of 120 seconds isused to determine that flow has been detected. This is implemented bycomparing each value in a time series with the measurement made 120seconds before and calculating the change or mathematical difference inthe values, and comparing the values to a limit value, which correspondsto a 5-degree difference between the two measured values. It may beappreciated that this difference is calculated without need to calculatethe absolute temperature in any units—a temperature difference limitvalue may be expressed in a unitless number such as raw readings from ananalog to digital converter.

The reliance on rate of change and relative rather than absolutetemperature measurement is a feature of embodiments of the invention andprovides advantages including cost savings and ease of installation,because a sensor does not need to be of high absolute accuracy orrequire calibration that would be needed to provide an absolutetemperature value in units such as degrees. Instead, less expensivesensors may be used, which provide sufficient accuracy in measuringchange of temperature over short intervals, suitable for computing ratesof change and detecting local maximums.

FIG. 15 shows further details of a hot water flow event detectionalgorithm based on embodiments of the invention. Graph 1500 illustratesa single event and notable detection criteria. Graph 1500 shows measuredtemperature data plotted with a horizontal axis of time and a verticalaxis of temperature. At point 1502, corresponding to time t₁, no flow isdetected and the data shows rest or equilibrium temperature X₁, butmeasured temperature is beginning to increase. Temperature increasesuntil time t₂, where the plotted sensor data shows a detected increasein temperature to X₂. Because the rate of temperature increases fromt₁to t₂ is at a rate that exceeds a pre-determined threshold a potentialstart event is detected.

It is essential to have a pre-determined rate threshold and measurementinterval selected to filter out spurious triggers, and temperatureincreases that are be caused by events other than flow of hot water. Forexample, increase in ambient surrounding temperature due to weather, orspace heaters. Or pipes near a hot water heater and a proximate sensormay be warmed when the heater burner or heating element switches on toheat the water. However, actual flow events create a larger rate ofincrease of temperature over a predetermined time and suitabletemperature rate thresholds and intervals distinguish temperature changeindicating flow, from other spurious temperature changes.

In one embodiment, a rate of increase of 5 degrees over a time intervalof 120 seconds is the pre-defined trigger value to detect flow of hotwater by rate of change of pipe surface temperature. In one embodiment,the pre-determined rate threshold is selected from a plurality ofvalues, and the selection is based on season, weather forecast, orambient temperature, to provide event detection best suited to presentor expected conditions.

Referring again to FIG. 15, at point 1508, the temperature has decreasedsufficiently to trigger a negative rate of change threshold detection.Accordingly, at point 1506, corresponding to time t₃, temperature is amaximum and begins to decrease, so temperature rate of change is lessthan zero and a flow event end is determined. A flow end event is onlydetermined when a preceding flow start event has been found. Theduration of the flow event depicted in plot 1500 is then determined tobegin at t₁ and detected event duration is t₃-t₁. In some embodiments, aflow start event is detected and subsequent samples are tested to detecta flow end.

FIG. 16A and 16B comprise a flow chart illustrating detection of anevent according to embodiments of the present invention. Process 1600 issplit between two figures for clear illustration, and the two figuresare connected at page connector 1614 and are intended to show a singleprocess flow. Process 1600 begins at 1602. At 1604, time rate oftemperature change is calculated over a pre-determined interval, or asan instantaneous time derivative. At 1606, rate of change is compared toa predetermine threshold. If the rate exceeds the threshold, processingcontinues at 1608 where the time of start of rate is saved as acandidate event start time. If the rate does not exceed the threshold,processing continues at 1604.

After a trend of sufficient positive rate is detected at 1606,processing continues with collection of temperature samples after thecandidate start event, at 1610.

At 1612 samples are tested to detect a negative temperature rate. Iftest 1612 is true, processing continues at 1616 in FIG. 16B. If nonegative rate is detected, processing loops and resumes at 1610.

Referring to FIG. 16B, processing continues at 1616 after a negativerate sufficient to detect has been detected. At 1618, recent samplesprior to the negative rate are tested to find a local maximum value at1618. The loop comprising 1616 and 1618 continues until the localmaximum is found. When the maximum is found, processing continues at1620 where the time corresponding to the maximum is determined to be theend event time. Processing concludes at 1622, where an event start andend have been detected, so the event detection is completed.

FIG. 17 depicts a schematic representation according to the presentinvention, for pattern matching to determine if a present usage patternmatches a reference usage pattern. Reference day 1702 contains intervalsof flow events and intervals of no-flow mapped to time of day. Referenceday 1702 shows a day with flow events 1706, 1708, 1710, 1712, 1714, and1716. Present day 1704 shows collection of data up to the present timeof day indicated by clock 1724. At present time in present day 1704,there have been two flow events 1718 and 1720.

There are many techniques for matching present day pattern 1704 againstreference pattern 1702, all in accordance with the teachings of thepresent invention. Various techniques used in embodiments are described,and in some embodiments multiple techniques may be employed in series,in an overlapping sequence, or simultaneously. Other techniques may beinvented or discovered and applied, without departing from the presentinvention.

In one embodiment, the count of events that occur in a time interval arecompared between reference day 1702 and present day 1704. Accordingly,ref day event counter 1726 and present-day event counter 1728 areutilized. In one embodiment, if a lack of usage events in a present-day1704 time interval is less than expected, a search is extend to a largerinterval of time, extending further back in time. For example, if fewusage events are detected in an afternoon, morning event counts are alsoexamined and compared.

In one embodiment, a count of usage events less than a reference in asingle observation interval triggers a state of WARN concern, while acount less than expected for two or more consecutive observationintervals triggers a state of CRITICAL concern. The reference eventcount threshold may be one or more.

In another embodiment, the approximately 24 hours comprising a day aredivided into sub-intervals for the purpose of monitoring utility usageevents. For example, a day may be divided into four sub intervals, andreferred to by labels such as NIGHT, MORNING, MIDDAY, AFTERNOON. The subintervals may be of equal or differing lengths and may correspond topre-determined times of day. In another embodiment, the intervals andtheir start and end times are adaptively adjusted according to usagepatterns. In such an embodiment, the detection of usage is a binaryfilter—in each sub-interval a determination is made if there has beenusage or no usage. Logic is then applied to the determinations to assessthe health and well-being status. For example, a single sub-intervalwith no usage is a cause for moderate concern, while two consecutivesub-intervals with no usage is cause for even more concern.

FIG. 18 depicts a schematic representation according to the presentinvention, for using enhanced awareness of the situation to determine ifpresent usage patterns are anomalous. In system 1800, present day usagefingerprint 1802 is processed by anomaly detector 1812 to determinelevel of concern represented by present day utility usage. Anomalydetector 1812 takes as a reference several aspects as shown. A referenceday fingerprint is selected from days stored or pre-programmed in 1804.

Natural factors 1808 such as sunrise and set times and weather arelikely to influence utility usage so are considered. Calendar factors1806 such as day-of-week, daylight savings time begin and end days, andholidays may affect patterns of life and thus utility usage and are alsoconsidered. Finally, disruptions to patterns of life due to visitors,vacations, or the like are considered from plans 1810.

Although the foregoing describes several techniques used to compareusage patterns and implement strategies to detect anomalies inembodiments of the invention, many other algorithms and pattern matchingstrategies are possible in other embodiments, all according to theinvention and its description. For example, statistical analysis isknown in the art as a technique to characterize data by variousstatistical measures, such as mean, median, standard deviation, density,derivatives, distribution and these measures may be applied to usageevents in any time interval to compare and contrast usage during theinterval with a reference. Similarly, techniques are known in the artfor pattern matching and differentiation, including feature extraction,Bayesian analysis, maximum likelihood, clustering, discriminantfunctions, neural networks, and stochastic methods, and any or all areapplied in embodiments consistent with the present invention.

FIGS. 19A and 19B depict using an embodiment of a rule-based scheme todefine a reference pattern for comparing present usage data and definingconsequent actions. Rule template 1900 illustrates a syntax that createsa rule from a pre-defined number of pre-defined fields and pre-definedrange values for each field. The rule contains antecedent matchingcriteria 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908. 1910, and 1912, and a consequent 1914to be asserted if the antecedents are determined to be true.

The rule structure of rule template 1900 is only one of a number ofrules and constrained fields that may be used as a reference pattern inaccordance with the present invention. One or multiple rules may be usedto define a reference day, event counts in intervals, consequentactions, or other reference tests.

Rule template 1900 defines a template that may be filled by severalmeans in accordance with embodiments. In one embodiment, the rule isdesigned within the template by a human using an editor or similar ruleediting tool. In another embodiment, the rule structure is used tocapture observations or past behavior, automatically by examining data,without human intervention, but providing a human-readable means tounderstand the rules being applied as a reference in detecting anomaloususage or concern in well-being status of a monitored person.

In some embodiments, a rule is initially created by an automated processyet a human using a suitable editor has the ability to observe andpossibly change the fields.

FIG. 19B further illustrates the concept of how in an embodiment, ruleset 1950 is used as a reference in detection of usage anomalies and todefine corresponding levels of concern and alert messages to be sentwhen a rule is triggered. Three rules 1952, 1954, and 1956 comprise ruleset 1950.

In one embodiment an inference engine processes the rules in combinationwith facts about present usage, events, or usage patterns. Inferenceengines that process a set of rules against a set of asserted facts toproduce conclusions are known in the art as forward-chaining or modusponens systems. In alternative embodiments, the rule system isimplemented as a fuzzy logic inference system, where numerical usagemeasures are automatically machine-characterized by a series ofexclusively assigned labels or bins, for example a measured usagequantity in a time interval may be assigned as exactly one of “nousage,” “little usage,” “much usage,” or “excessive usage.” Rules thenare defined using these labels as antecedents or in conditionalexpressions.

FIG. 20 schematically illustrates logic, inputs, and outputs that createa notification system in accord with the present invention. Alerting2000 is centered on alerting and status logic 2012. Alerting and statuslogic 2012 takes as inputs a periodic request for update from Timer2004, the status of the health monitoring algorithms, which may beeither WARN LEVEL CONCERN 2006 or CRITICAL LEVEL CONCERN 2008—it may beeither one, neither, but not both simultaneously. An input is also, insome embodiments, detection of loss of data from a sensor beingmonitored at data loss 2010. This may indicate an equipment failure,power outage or similar event that prevents data from being sent.

Alerting and status logic 2012 also considers notification pause/config2002 which allows each user to configure which alerts are received andwhich triggers are observed or ignored. In one embodiment, ignoring atrigger or silencing an alarm is only allowed temporarily, analogous tosilencing a nuisance alarm from a smoke detector without permanentlydisabling its warnings.

Also configurable is the type of warning and updates sent. Threerepresentative types are shown for illustration. Device 2014 is a smartphone, tablet, or laptop that may receive messages such as SMS. In oneembodiment, device 2014 is equipped with an application to handle alertsand status queries. At 2016, an email notification is shown. At 2018, aninstant message Notification is shown, which may be useful with Slack ora similar Instant Messaging (IM) platform.

FIG. 21A, 21B, and 21C provide schematic depictions of data displaysemployed to show a user the present well-being status of a person beingmonitored, in embodiments. As noted previously, it should be kept inmind that the depictions in these figures are monochromatic forsimplicity of illustration, yet in actual embodiments the full graphiccapabilities of the display device, including multiple colors, coloredregions, contrasting colors, and flashing or blinking, is deployed. Inthe figures, simple graphical representations such as shading and angledlines, in conjunction with color name labels e.g. “red” or “green” areshown but it should be appreciated that in actual embodiments, theregions would actually display a distinctive and informative color orsequence of colors.

It should also be appreciated that the displays depicted in FIGS. 21A,21B, and 21C are, in various embodiments, displayed on a computermonitor, a tablet display, or a mobile phone and in those embodiments,are provided as part of an interactive user interface and applicationsoftware appropriate for the device, display, and operating system.Those applications provide many user interface displays and menus thatare familiar in the art, typically activated by gestures or menuselections, and many are omitted here to focus on the inventive aspectsof displays in embodiments. In other words, the depicted screens areonly a subset of many screens that are implemented in an actualapplication for example, to facilitate housekeeping, setup, billing,legal notices, and configuration preferences.

Referring to FIG. 21A, display window 2100 provides two display regions2102. Each display region 2102 corresponds to a location and provides auser information about that location and the status of person beingmonitored at that location (refer to FIG. 12). Two locations are shownfor simplicity, but many locations may be displayed; no limit should beinferred. In display region 2102, location label 2104 identifies thelocation that corresponds to the display region 2102 and the datadisplayed therein. Status bar 2106 displays the well-being status of theperson being monitored at the location, and in one embodiment is filledwith a color corresponding to the well-being status. For example, statusbar 2106 being green indicates a NORMAL status, status bar 2106 beingyellow indicates a WARNING status, and status bar 2106 being redindicates a CRITICAL status. Other assignments of colors or displaypatterns to correspond to status states are possible, for exampleflashing or alternating colors to draw attention, or audible alerts. Thered/yellow/green scheme is readily known to most persons. These statusconditions are further described in conjunction with FIG. 22A. It shouldbe appreciated that there are many display conventions that may beemployed to indicate well-being status to a user in various embodiments,all in accordance with the invention described herein. The inventiondoes not rely on any specific graphical display, type, or displayconvention.

Status string 2108 indicates if activity by the person being monitoredhas been detected today, that is since midnight. Day start string 2110indicates the time activity was first detected today and the timeelapsed between that activity and the present time. Time zone string2112 indicates the time zone corresponding to the location.

FIG. 21B depicts display window 2130 which provides a more detailed viewof the activity at a location in the present day. Display label 2132shows this display is showing water use events in the present day.Graphical display 2134, in one embodiment, depicts utility usage eventsin that have been detected in the present day. Time scale 2136 providesa timeline. It should be appreciated that timeline 2136 may be scaled toshow events in any arbitrary interval of time, and in variousembodiments, may be dynamically zoomed to display longer or shorterintervals, or to zoom in on intervals of interest.

Graphical display 2134 shows six utility usage events 2138, 2140, 2142,2144, 2146, and 2148. The events correspond to actual measured usage andthe events shown are illustrative only—actual measured usage may havemore or less events, or none. Each usage event is shown, in thisembodiment, as a bar where the length of the bar indicates the number ofusage events that were detected in the time interval corresponding tothe time-on-time axis 2136. There are many conventions for displayingusage events, start times, and durations, all in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 21C depicts a raw data display window 2160. Display label 2162shows the window is displaying raw data from a sensor at thecorresponding location. Graphical display 2164 shows data sequence 2170drawn relative to X axis 2168 and Y axis 2166. X axis 2168 is marked toindicate an interval of time and Y axis 2168 is marked to indicate asensor value, where the units may be degrees (temperature), percent, orrelative magnitude.

A salient feature of the embodiment illustrated in depictions in FIG.21C is that the user is viewing the raw sensor data at the location,whereas in FIG. 21A and 21B the user is viewing data after automaticprocessing to detect events. This allows the user to observe both rawand processed data nearly simultaneously, and compare the raw data tothe processed, which may be useful for troubleshooting, configuring thesystem, or to build confidence in the automatic capabilities fordetecting events and well-being status. However, the raw data windowdisplay 2160 in FIG. 21C is completely non-essential for most users whoneed only rely on the automatic and pattern detection capabilities asdisplayed in window 2100 (FIG. 21A) and 2130 (FIG. 21B).

FIG. 22A and 22B diagrammatically depict a state machine modelimplemented to track well-being and alert status in embodiments of theinvention. A state machine, also known as a finite state machine, orFSM, is a model of a system (or subsystem) design that is implemented insoftware, such that the system is implemented to be in exactly one of apre-defined number of discrete states at any given time. The modeldefines the states, and also defines the conditions or events that causethe system to transition from its present state to another of thepre-determined states as time progresses. Time passage is implicit in anFSM definition in that the system is in one state at any instant in timeand as time progresses may remain in the state or transition to anotherstate. That is, all states and events that cause the system to changestates, and the corresponding next states, are defined by a statemachine model diagram.

FIG. 22A depicts an FSM model of system 2200 corresponding to thewell-being status of the person being monitored, according to anembodiment of the invention. The well-being status is always one ofthree pre-defined states: NORMAL state 2202, WARN state 2204, orCRITICAL state 2206. NORMAL state 2203 is the starting state of thesystem 2200. System 2200 remains in NORMAL state 2202 until the event ofno usage of utility during a pre-defined interval triggers transition2212 to WARN state 2204. In one embodiment, the interval for usagedetection divides a day into periods such as morning hours, middayhours, afternoon hours, and evening hours. In other words, no observedutility usage during one of these periods would trigger transition 2212from NORMAL to WARN state 2204.

Still referring to FIG. 22A, and system 2200 being in WARN state 2204,system 2200 remains in WARN state 2204 unless one of three eventstriggers a transition. Any utility usage triggers transition 2210 andsystem 2200 enters the NORMAL state 2202. System 2200 transitions toCRITICAL state 2206 if there is no usage of utility during a secondconsecutive pre-defined interval, triggering transition 2214. System2200 also transitions to CRITICAL state 2206 in the event a pre-definedtime interval elapses with system 2200 dwelling in WARN state 2204,triggering transition 2216. For example, the pre-defined time intervaltriggering transition 2216 is in one embodiment, 30 minutes.

Once system 2200 is in CRITICAL state 2206, it remains there until anyobserved utility usage triggers transition 2208 to NORMAL state 2202.Implicit in most states (and not shown) is a timer that measures time instate. For example, in one embodiment a notification to the user istriggered periodically while in WARN state 2204 or CRITICAL state 2206,using the timer to measure the notification interval. Similarly, theintervals that trigger transition 2212 and 2214 require a timemeasurement.

Referring now to FIG. 22B, an FSM is depicted to model notificationsubsystem 2250. Although in many embodiments a primary purpose of theinvention is to provide notification to the user of any cause forconcern resulting from detection of utility usage patterns, anomalies,or lack of usage by a person being monitored, it is also often the casethat a user wants to either temporarily suppress or indefinitely pausenotifications. This may be the case for example, if a user knows theperson being monitored is not at home or is on vacation so lack ofutility usage is not a cause for concern and notifications would be anannoyance rather than useful.

Accordingly, and with reference to FIG. 22B according to an embodimentof the invention, notification subsystem 2250 is depicted as an FSMmodel with three discrete states: ACTIVE state 2252 passes allnotifications to user, SUPPRESSED state 2254 silences notificationstemporarily, and PAUSED state 2256 silences notifications until the userre-enables them. The initial and normal state is ACTIVE state 2252.Subsystem 2250 remains in ACTIVE state 2252 until a user requests achange. A user initiates transition 2264 to SUPPRESSED state 2254 ortransition 2258 to PAUSED state 2256. Typically, these requestscorrespond to elements of the user interface.

It should be noted that labels used to describe states of FSM modelsherein are for convenience of reference only and have no effect onfunctionality or operation of the corresponding FSM. Because these statelabels are, in some embodiments, used to indicate the present state ofthe system to a user or displayed on a screen, it is often convenient touse other labels that are more familiar to users, or to communicate tousers speaking other languages, or to create one or more alias labels.For example, in one embodiment the state described in reference to FIG.22B as SUPPRESSED is also described as SNOOZE, because users may befamiliar with the snooze button typically found on an alarm clock, andthe functionality is analogous. In one embodiment, state label aliasesused in displays are based on a language preference setting, for exampleEnglish, Spanish, Portuguese, or the like.

Referring to FIG. 22B, when subsystem 2250 is in SUPPRESSED state 2254,three events trigger a transition. User request for pause triggerstransition 2270 to PAUSED state 2256. Observed utility usage triggerstransition 2268 to ACTIVE state 2252. And passage of a predeterminedinterval of time triggers transition 2260 to ACTIVE state 2252.

The remaining PAUSED state 2256 persists until user requests triggeringtransition 2258 to ACTIVE state 2252. In one embodiment, timer 2272initiates periodic reminder notices to the user that notificationsubsystem 2250 is paused, since PAUSED state 2272 prevents anynotifications being sent to the user and could inadvertently cause acritical notice to be missed.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagrammatic view of a network system in whichembodiments of the present invention may be utilized. FIG. 23 is ahigh-level block diagram of a computing environment 2300 according toone embodiment. FIG. 23 illustrates server 2310 and three clients 2312connected by network 2314. Only three clients 2312 are shown in FIG. 23in order to simplify and clarify the description. Embodiments of thecomputing environment 2300 may have thousands or millions of clients2312 connected to network 2314, for example the Internet. Users (notshown) may operate software 2316 on one of clients 2312 to both send andreceive messages network 2314 via server 2310 and its associatedcommunications equipment and software (not shown).

FIG. 24 depicts a block diagram of computer system 2400 suitable forimplementing server 2310 or client 2312. Computer system 2400 includesbus 2412 which interconnects major subsystems of computer system 2400,such as central processor 2414, system memory 2416 (typically RAM, butwhich may also include ROM, flash RAM, or the like), input/outputcontroller 2418, external audio device, such as speaker system 2420 viaaudio output interface 2422, external device, such as display screen2424 via display adapter 2426, serial ports 2428 and 2430, keyboard 2432(interfaced with keyboard controller 2433), storage interface 2434, diskdrive 2437 operative to receive floppy disk 2438 (disk drive 2437 isused to represent various type of removable memory such as flash drives,memory sticks and the like), host bus adapter (HBA) interface card 2435operative to connect with Fibre Channel network 2490, and optical diskdrive 2240 operative to receive optical disk 2442. Analog to digitalconverter 2436, in signal connection with multiplexer and sampler 2439is operative for the acquisition of analog signals and sampling andconversion of external time-varying voltages into numerical (digital)values and sequences of values on bus 2412 or stored in memory 2416.Also included are mouse 2446 (or other point-and-click device, coupledto bus 2412 via serial port 2428), modem 2447 (coupled to bus 2412 viaserial port 2430), and network interface 2448 (coupled directly to bus2412).

Bus 2412 allows data communication between central processor 2414 andsystem memory 2417, which may include read-only memory (ROM) or flashmemory (neither shown), and random-access memory (RAM) (not shown), aspreviously noted. RAM is generally the main memory into which operatingsystem and application programs are loaded. ROM or flash memory maycontain, among other software code, Basic Input-Output system (BIOS)which controls basic hardware operation such as interaction withperipheral components. Applications resident with computer system 2410are generally stored on and accessed via computer readable media, suchas hard disk drives (e.g., fixed disk 2444), optical drives (e.g.,optical drive 2440), floppy disk unit 2437, or other storage medium.Additionally, applications may be in the form of electronic signalsmodulated in accordance with the application and data communicationtechnology when accessed via network modem 2447 or interface 2448 orother telecommunications equipment (not shown).

Storage interface 2434, as with other storage interfaces of computersystem 2400, may connect to standard computer readable media for storageand/or retrieval of information, such as fixed disk drive 2444. Fixeddisk drive 2444 may be part of computer system 2400 or may be separateand accessed through other interface systems. Modem 2447 may providedirect connection to remote servers via telephone link or the internetvia an internet service provider (ISP) (not shown). Modem 2447 may alsoprovide a data or encoded voice connection to a mobile telephone or PCSnetwork. Network interface 2448 may provide direct connection to remoteservers via network link to the internet, a local area network, a WiFinetwork, a Bluetooth network, a NFC (near field communication) network,an infrared data link, or the like. Network interface 2448 may providesuch connection using wireless techniques, including digital cellulartelephone connection, WiFi (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth, PCS, 3G, 4G, 5G,Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) connection, digital satellite dataconnection or the like. Many other devices or subsystems (not shown) maybe connected in a similar manner (e.g., document scanners, digitalcameras and so on). Conversely, all of the devices shown in FIG. 24 neednot be present to practice the present disclosure. Devices andsubsystems may be interconnected in different ways from that shown inFIG. 24.

Operation of a computer system such as that shown in FIG. 24 is readilyknown in the art and is not discussed in detail in this application.Software source and/or object codes to implement the present disclosuremay be stored in computer-readable storage media such as one or more ofsystem memory 2417, fixed disk 2444, optical disk 2442, or floppy disk2438. The operating system provided on computer system 2400 may be avariety or version of either MS-DOS® (MS-DOS is a registered trademarkof Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), WINDOWS® (WINDOWS is aregistered trademark of Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), OS/2®(OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Business MachinesCorporation of Armonk, N.Y.), UNIX® (UNIX is a registered trademark ofX/Open Company Limited of Reading, United Kingdom), Linux® (Linux is aregistered trademark of Linus Torvalds of Portland, Oreg.), or otherknown or developed operating system. In some embodiments, computersystem 2400 may take the form of a smart phone device, or tabletcomputer, typically in the form of a display screen operated by touchingthe screen, configured to respond to a variety of predeterminedsensitive zones (buttons) and respond to predetermined finger touchgestures such as swipe, pinch, rotate or the like, performed with one ormore fingers. In smart phone or tablet embodiments, the touch sensitivescreen typically can be configured to operate to emulate the functionsof a mouse/pointer device or keyboard input device for text or numericalentries. In smart phone or tablet computer alternative embodiments, theoperating system may be iOS® (iOS is a registered trademark of CiscoSystems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., used under license by AppleCorporation of Cupertino, Calif.), Android® (Android is a trademark ofGoogle Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.), Blackberry® Tablet OS (Blackberryis a registered trademark of Research In Motion of Waterloo, Ontario,Canada), webOS (webOS is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard DevelopmentCompany, L.P. of Texas), and/or other suitable tablet operating systems.Moreover, regarding the signals described herein, those skilled in theart recognize that a signal may be directly transmitted from a firstblock to a second block, or a signal may be modified (e.g., amplified,attenuated, delayed, latched, buffered, inverted, filtered, or otherwisemodified) between blocks.

Although the signals of the above-described embodiments arecharacterized as transmitted from one block to the next, otherembodiments of the present disclosure may include modified signals inplace of such directly transmitted signals as long as the informationaland/or functional aspect of the signal is transmitted between blocks. Tosome extent, a signal input at a second block may be conceptualized as asecond signal derived from a first signal output from a first block dueto physical limitations of the circuitry involved (e.g., there willinevitably be some attenuation and delay). Therefore, as used herein, asecond signal derived from a first signal includes the first signal orany modifications to the first signal, whether due to circuitlimitations or due to passage through other circuit elements which donot change the informational and/or final functional aspect of the firstsignal.

While one or more embodiments of this invention have been described ashaving an illustrative design, the present invention may be furthermodified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Thisapplication is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, oradaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, thisapplication is intended to cover such departures from the presentdisclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art towhich this invention pertains.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of monitoring a residence for humanactivity, the residence having at least one utility capable of beingactivated by human activity, the method including the steps of:providing a signal generating device; providing a utility activationsensing device; enabling the signal generating device to send a signalwhen the utility activation sensing device indicates the at least oneutility has been activated.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the signalgenerating device sends a signal indicative of the utility that has beenactivated.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the signal generating deviceis connected to a network and sends the signal over the network.
 4. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the utility activation sensing device includesan electricity sensor.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the electricitysensor monitors a subset of the electric utility consumption of theresidence.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the utility activationsensing device includes a water flow sensor.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein the water flow sensor monitors a subset of the water consumptionof the residence.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the water flow sensormonitors a hot water circuit of the residential water system.
 9. Themethod of claim 6 wherein the water flow sensor monitors a sewage lineof the residence.
 10. A system for determining health and well-being ofa human person in a residence, the residence having at least oneutility, the system comprising: a sensor for detecting usage of the atleast one utility; a timer having interval measurement, ratemeasurement, and calendar time measurement; storage coupled to thesensor and timer for storing sensor data and timer measurements; aprocessor device in communication with the sensor, the storage, and thetimer, the processor configured to determine a reference pattern basedon the sensor data and timer measurements of the storage, the processorfurther configured to compare in near real-time, sensed present utilityusage patterns over time to a reference pattern, and to alert when ananomaly is detected; and a communications module configured to enablethe processor to send information relating to a detected anomaly. 11.The system of claim 10 wherein the sensor is configured to detect flowof hot water in the residence.
 12. The system of claim 10 wherein theresidence has a hot water heating device, and the sensor is located atan exit of the hot water heating device.
 13. The system of claim 10wherein the residence is coupled in a utility network with otherresidences, and the sensor is located within the utility network in alocation where the other residences do not consume the utility resource.14. The system of claim 10 wherein the sensor detects a rate of changeof temperature of a hot water pipe in the residence.
 15. The system ofclaim 14 wherein a rate of change of about 5 degrees F. over about 120seconds is taken as a threshold indicating a start of change of waterflow rate.
 16. The system of claim 10 wherein usage events are based ondetecting patterns or features in the stored history of sensed data andcorrelating time of features.
 17. The system of claim 14 wherein usageevents are determined by monitoring a rate of temperature change in thewater pipe, and when the monitored temperature change in a firstdirection exceeds a threshold value then monitoring the time duration ofthe temperature change until the rate of temperature change in the waterpipe exceeds a threshold value in a second direction opposite the firstdirection.
 18. A method for detecting human activity in amulti-residence facility having a residential utility delivery network,the method steps comprising: installing, at a location within aresidential utility delivery network, a sensor configured to detect flowof the utility through the network; sensing activity of the utility;recording a time duration of sensed utility activity; comparing recordedactivity duration patterns to a reference pattern; applying patternmatching logic to determine if the sensed utility activity differs fromthe reference pattern; sending a message relating to an inference ofhuman activity of a person in the residence and using recorded activityduration patterns.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising thestep of installing a second utility sensor at other location within oneof the residential utility delivery network or in a second utilitynetwork within residence facility.
 20. The method of claim 18 whereinthe recorded utility duration patterns are additionally used to inferhealth and well-being status of at least one person in the residencefacility.